For those of us genealogically challenged enough to remember a cartoon character very popular in the daily newspaper from 1948 to 1975, I would like to reintroduce him to you. For those who are too young to remember, all I can say is you missed a lot of common sense teaching with layers of social and political satire dressed up in a comedic presentation. This character, named “Pogo,” was a possum found in our southern states. His theme was the events of the day and his analysis of them. In one episode he was deploring the moral decline of the country and came to this observation: “We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us.” Our problems then and our problems today are the same as Pogo’s of yesteryear; we are our own worst enemy.
Where and from whom comes today’s “void of judgment” mindset that is destroying our nation, indeed the world? In American society today, in every society around the world, there seem to be three curses that permeate those society’s structures and lead to the weakening and eventual downfall of each society. This has been true since the early days of mankind’s kingdoms. We know the three curses all stem from one source, Satan, the great deceiver who uses each curse to destroy the right relationship between men and women and weaken the family unit until it is no longer thought of as a sacred blessing from Almighty God. Society is reduced to the most basic of animal instincts through Satan’s manipulation and lies on a grand scale.
But Satan does not come to society as a red dragon with a long tail holding a pitch fork. No, there would be no acceptance by society of his plan if he used an approach revealing who he really is. Oh no, he must disguise himself and his false teachings to make them acceptable to those in positions of teaching others. They then appear as teachers of “truth,” enlightening their audience, but deceptions will eventually drown out the truth as people accept it as normal. However, the result of accepting falsehoods is the moral destruction of a nation, no matter how “righteous” it appears. Definite curses will come and blame will be placed on those responsible, no matter how innocent they may appear. These three curses were foretold long ago by none other than the Apostle John.
John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
Here we find the curses of every society, the point of no return unless we turn to God in national repentance. Let’s note them specifically and see the damage they have done and continue to do on a daily basis.
The Lust of the Flesh
What is the lust of the flesh? The lust of the flesh is that temptation to feel physical pleasure from some sinful activity; to do something to make the flesh feel satisfied. It can involve any type of sinful activity that will bring pleasure to the body. It can be doing violence to others, hate filled gossip, witchcraft, drunkenness, addiction to drugs, adultery and fornication. However, the most useful tool of Satan involves sexual sins. The sexual lust of the flesh bombards our senses 24-7-365 doing its destructive work in the hearts, minds and souls of both adults and children. If your five year old child can turn on a computer and operate a mouse, they can find this destructive work in the form of non-stop pornography. You can forget the so called “block content” filters said to prevent displaying these pages of filth. According to the latest research widely available, half of women tune into internet pornography at least one time a month, and the same basic percentage goes for men. Ninety percent of children aged eight through sixteen have watched pornographic content they would not want their parents to see. Thirty-seven percent of teens say they watch pornography on a regular (3 times a week average) basis. Why does someone not cry aloud and warn people of the dangers of such behavior? Why is there no voice shouting to stop this insidious sin that is ruining the values of all segments of our society?
Because, there is another group that has been infected with the “lust of the flesh,” through pornography that is staggering. Fasten your seat belts for here they are.
One in five youth pastors and one in seven senior pastors use porn on a regular basis and are currently struggling to overcome it. That’s more than 50,000 U. S. church leaders. Forty-three percent of senior pastors and youth pastors say they have struggled with pornography in the past. Sixty-four percent of Christian men and fifteen percent of Christian women say they watch porn at least once a month. Only seven percent of pastors report their church has a ministry program for those struggling with pornography.
What effect does this “lust of the flesh” have on its viewers?
Sixty-eight percent of divorce cases involved one party meeting a new lover over the Internet. Fifty-six percent involved one party having “an obsessive interest in pornographic websites.” Seventy percent of wives of sex addicts could be diagnosed with PTSD. Prolonged exposure to pornography leads to:
• Diminished trust between intimate couples
• Belief that promiscuity is the natural state
• Lack of attraction to family and child-raising
A 2014 study from the website “Covenant Eyes,” found that compulsive pornography users “had greater impairments of sexual arousal and erectile difficulties in intimate relationships but not with sexually explicit materials.”
Pornography has done a masterful job of turning the God given proper sexual intimacy between a husband and wife into the “lust of the flesh.” The sad part is these are the leaders of the nation’s churches and Christian schools educating the malleable minds of our youth. They have neutered and abandoned those given the responsibility written in Isaiah 58:1, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”
The vast majority of sermons preached each week by the pastors in America are nothing more than “holy hogwash.” By that I mean tune in on Sunday and watch and listen to the fifteen to twenty minute messages on how to live a sweet and peaceful life. Messages titled, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” “It’s going to happen quickly,” “Wisdom keys,” “Discover thecChampion within you,” and all the rest of them delivered in a measured, soothing tone to make you feel good and salve your conscience. Never mind the fact that a large part of their audience are slaves to pornography and the other sins of the “lust of the flesh.” They can’t cry aloud because they are captive themselves.
The Lust of the Eyes
What is the lust of the eyes? The lust of the eyes is that temptation to look upon things we shouldn’t look upon, or to have things that we shouldn’t have. In other words, it is to cast our eyes upon something with desire or pleasure, even though God has told us not to look upon those things.
The sin of coveting is a prime example of the result of succumbing to the lust of the eyes. We rarely hear of the sin of coveting in today’s time, but “thou shalt not covet” was the 10th commandment that God gave to the Israelites. To covet means to have a yearning or a strong desire to have something that rightfully belongs to someone else. “That’s not fair that he has such a beautiful wife. I want her as my wife,” is a prime example. Other examples of the lust of the eyes include looking at pornography, desiring others’ material possessions, status, appearance, etc. It’s the recognition that something sinful has visual appeal, and then wanting it for the sake of its visual appeal.
As in the former phrase “lust of the flesh,” so here again sexual lust is only a fraction of the meaning of the phrase. The “lust of the eyes” describes someone who is captivated by an outward show of materialism. See a new car, must have it. See a dress, must have it. See a position, must have it. The list is endless! Cars, dresses, positions, etc., are not in and of themselves sinful. But the inordinate desire to have what we see is sinful. An inordinate desire to have anything contrary to God’s will is sinful.
Before we experience genuine repentance and are led by the Holy Spirit, there is no conflict with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Our wandering eyes were full of the lust of the flesh and we didn’t have an issue with it. Sin was a pleasure, not a plaguing problem. But the moment we turned in genuine repentance, the battle began. A man has no problem smoking forty cigarettes a day until he tries to stop. That’s when war is declared and the battle begins.
The Pride of Life
What is the pride of life? The pride of life is that sinful temptation for excess greatness or power that we all feel the temptation to attain. Pride itself is one of the sins that God hates most. It is the sin that made Lucifer (light bringer) turn into Satan (the adversary, the destroyer). Some examples of this sin include the following:
•Desiring to get credit or glory for things that others (or God) did
•Desiring for others to hold us in excess esteem, “to make a name for ourselves”
•Desiring to feel valued or more important than others around us
•Desiring positions of power over others in a way that puffs up our own ego for the sake of bragging rights (Jesus said that those who desire to be great should be the greatest servant)
Consider the words of Satan himself, who was so filled with pride that he wanted to be God:
Isaiah 14:14, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
In looking at these three temptations in action we see that every sin we commit will involve at least one of these three temptations, but it may include all three. Notice how Satan used all three temptations with Eve in the Garden of Eden, and with Jesus in the New Testament. Eve succumbed to the temptations, yet Jesus resisted them.
Eve’s temptation by Satan is found in Genesis 3:6. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [the pride of life], she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
Jesus’ temptation by Satan is found in Matthew 4:3-10:
“And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread [lust of the flesh]. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone [the pride of life]. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them [the lust of the eyes]; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
It’s important to know that it is not a sin to enjoy physical pleasure in things in which God allows us to feel pleasure. For example, God created food to taste delicious. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a delicious meal (we have to eat to live), but gluttony is a sin. God also created sex. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying intimacy with our spouses, but adultery or fornication is sin.
There is nothing wrong with looking at beautiful things. There are many beautiful paintings, materials, and even creation itself is breathtaking. Is there anything more beautiful than a rainbow, a mountain landscape, the ocean, or the stars? But when we lustfully look upon things God has commanded us to avoid, such as pornography, other people’s spouses, or other people’s possessions, it becomes sin.
There is nothing wrong with having ambition or desiring to work hard. However, when we fail to give glory to God, when we desire to be praised for other’s efforts, or when we desire power or knowledge for the sake of puffing ourselves up, we become entangled in the pride of life.
We will all face the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. However, the Bible tells us that when we are tempted, God will always give us an escape option.
1 Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it”.
No matter how tempted you may be in a situation, Jesus felt that same temptation. God promises us that no matter how hard the temptation is, He will always provide an escape route. We can always choose obedience over sin.
We all know that the original cause of sin lies with Satan the Devil and he will answer for all mankind’s sins when Jesus returns and casts him into the bottomless pit. And we also know that today he does not come at society head on, for no one would accept his lies. He uses those in human authority to spread his lies and deceive the world. People since the Garden of Eden have been deceived by him and those responsible for teaching the truth have become ensnared by him and thus do not know the truth.
The “void of judgment” mindset that is destroying our nation comes from the refusal of the pastors of the land to look their congregations in the eye and call sin what it is—sin! To defeat the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is to continually have the rod of God’s law before your eyes. That’s what it means to walk in proper awe and fear of God.
But how can people know God’s law unless it is taught by the pastors and teachers? There would be very few people who were “void of judgment” if they knew and kept God’s Law and His Ten Commandments. But no, it is taught that God’s Law was done away with by Jesus and you are free to do whatever you feel like. Pastors don’t tell their congregations that they are to worship only the true God. Pastors don’t tell them not to take God’s name in vain. Pastors don’t tell them that the proper day to worship God is the Sabbath, not Sunday. Pastors don’t tell them to honor their parents; no, rebel against their parents and then warehouse them in nursing homes to die when they are elderly. Pastors don’t tell them not to commit adultery. One minister said he could not even define adultery. Pastors don’t tell them not to murder; no, human life is cheap and Planned Parenthood is a wonderful place to get rid of an unwanted child (it’s not just a fetus, it’s a living child of God). Pastors don’t tell them not to gossip, envy or lie about each other. No, they let that one just slide on by.
God is removing His providence from America because America has turned its back on God. Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the U. S. in 1916. Sanger founded the American Birth Control League in 1921, which changed its name to Planned Parenthood in 1942 with abortion as its main function. In 1925 Evolution became accepted in school. The Sabbath was abandoned in 325 AD by false teachers and Sunday substituted as the day of worship which continues to this day. Adultery, fornication and deviant sex is the order of the day in America. Lies are told from the head of the government to the first grader.
Why is this? Because the “religious leaders” do not cry aloud and show their people their sins! They preach a “greasy grace” and as a result the people are destroyed and scattered in every direction. Morality and moral values are considered “archaic” and out of touch with today’s world. The minds of the people are “void of judgment” for lack of the true knowledge and wisdom contained in the laws of God. Our society is crumbling before our eyes because of our sins. Only one thing can save America; that is a national repentance before the Creator God. And national repentance cannot come without the knowledge of the word of God, His laws and way of life.
How can that come about? By every pastor, minister, preacher, evangelist, bishop and priest returning themselves to the law of God and without apology or hesitation stand in their pulpits and tell their people what sin is. Tell them to overcome the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life by true repentance and ask God for forgiveness of their sins and to be guided by His Holy Spirit. For every pastor, minister, preacher, evangelist, bishop and priest to set the right example before their congregations. Then, and only then, will there be an orderly society.
